Who Is Joseph Manfredi On 'Agent Carter'? Ken Marino's Character May Not Be All Laughs This Time

After Tuesday's emotional delve into Peggy Carter and Whitney Frost's past, Agent Carter is getting back to a different kind of mythology. Who is Joseph Manfredi on Agent Carter? As Peggy, Jarvis, and Sousa continue their investigation of the Arena Club, more comic book villains are going to come out of the woodwork.

Manfredi will be played by Ken Marino, who you may know from Wet Hot American Summer, Veronica Mars, or Party Down. How fun! He's a funny guy, but his character on Agent Carter might not be a ball of laughs. According to Variety, who announced the casting, Manfredi is "a volatile leader in the Maggia crime syndicate who will help Peggy Carter’s adversaries further their agenda." However, fans of Marvel comics might recognize the name, and know that he has the potential to be much more than a crime boss.

In Marvel comics, the character becomes the Daredevil villain and Hydra member known as Blackwing. It seems as if Agent Carter is combining the character with Joseph's father Silvio Manfredi, who was a crime boss and also the cybernetic vigilante Silvermane. One interesting thing about Batwing, however, is that he looks a heck of a lot like Batman. Interesting. The character is even able to control bats, and joined the "Circus of Crime" at the start of his career — Robin, much? Check it out.

Manfredi is not the only comic book character joining the ABC spinoff series in this episode. Ray Wise, who appeared in the Season 1 episode "Bridge and Tunnel," will reprise his role as Hugh Jones, the president of an oil company who in the comics gets kidnapped by Madame Hydra, also known as Ophelia Sarkissian. Could that be Dottie Underwood's true identity, or is Agent Carter adding a third female villain to its register?

Don't get me wrong, I'm interested to see where they take Marino's character. The one thing that Agent Carter has been lacking, as a comic book/superhero series, is masked vigilantes. With Whitney Frost and Joseph Manfredi, that's at least two. The Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps growing and growing, and characters like this who made up the world of the Avengers we know and love make it all the more interesting to follow on Agent Carter.